A radar device of this type is known, for example, from PCT Published International Patent Application No. 96/19737. Objects enclosed in a wall or in the ground, for example, may be detected with high precision via a radar device. Thus, for example, when drilling in a wall, the worker should obtain accurate information about a location of the objects enclosed therein, i.e., the position on the wall surface and the depth in the wall, to protect these enclosed objects such as steel reinforcements, power lines, water ducts, and the like, from damage.
A radar device usually includes, as also described in PCT Published International Patent Application No. 96/197371, a “front end,” i.e., a transmission and reception unit, and a display device. The front end disclosed in PCT Published International Patent Application No. 96/19737 A1 has, as set forth above, a shielded space for electric circuits and two spaces adjacent to this space, which are designed as a transmission antenna and a reception antenna. The cavities for the transmission and reception antennas are in the shape of horns, in which radiating elements (for example, in the form of wires) are installed. The space accommodating the circuits are shielded by a housing installed on the PC board for the circuits and by the walls of the antenna horns, which are attached to the side of the PC board opposite the circuits.
PCT Published International Patent Application No. 02/063334 describes a radar device, i.e., an integrated circuit for a radar device in a hermetically sealed housing having a patch antenna formed from a bent sheet metal part. The compact radar device of PCT Published International Patent Application No. 02/063334, which may be manufactured inexpensively, has a cavity having a radiating element accommodated therein and a shielded space for electric circuits. The housing is shaped in such a way that it forms both the shielded space for the circuits and the cavity for the antenna element.